S4GRU Posting Guidelines (a.k.a. The Rulez)

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OK, now is the time for this thread, and in fact it's probably way overdue. I am starting this pinned thread as a running list, or a W.I.P. (Work in Progress). I will add to it when the Moderating Team and I come up with a new guideline, or if a new situation not addressed by these guideline occurs.


Please note that how and when the guidelines are applied or enforced are up to the discretion of S4GRU, Administrators and Moderators. The severity of the offense and how it is handled is an area that S4GRU staff need flexibility based upon the circumstances involved.

S4GRU MISSION STATEMENT:
 

"To provide a forum for discussion and education about wireless spectrum, networks, and Sprint Network Vision, in particular, in an online community that is mature, intelligent, and free from uncritical negativity."

The mission statement is very important to us, because it is the foundation for which all rules and guidelines stem from. S4GRU endeavors to maintain the mission statement as our core philosophy and only consider rules and actions in context within the mission statement.

GUIDELINES:

Insults and name calling. Insults, name calling, threats or overtly critical comments directed AT other members or staff are not permitted.

Negative comments. We understand that Sprint's network suffers in many places, especially the legacy network.  However, negative comments about Sprint or S4GRU must be constructive in nature, relevant to the topic and the conversation, illustrate facts, be made rationally and intelligently and cannot have an attack tone. Rants will not be allowed. We do not host Sprint complaints. Complaints about Sprint should be directed to their customer service channels.  People come to S4GRU to discuss Network Vision deployment and do not want to sift through uninformative complaints to find useful information.  Trolling is prohibited

Respect your leaders. It is acceptable to discuss and even debate points with S4GRU Staff in forum posts and comments. S4GRU Staff includes Administrators, Contributing Authors and Moderators. However, overly aggressive, insulting or combative language that appears disrespectful of the all-volunteer S4GRU staff will not be tolerated. Here is a link to our current S4GRU Staff: http://s4gru.com/ind...50-s4gru-staff/

Multiple posts. It is not permissible to post a new thread in a category, and then post it again in another category because it seems relevant there too. Additionally, posting a question in one thread and re-posting it in other threads is also not allowed. An exception to this rule is if something new becomes relevant to multiple existing threads, it would be permissible to post the same thing or link in more than one thread. But the post must be relevant to the discussions in both threads.

Content. S4GRU is not geared to the the general public, but rather to wireless enthusiasts who are generally adult aged. However, anyone may come along and read your comments, including children. Please do not exceed a "PG-13" content rating in your posts. Moderators and Staff may notify you of content they deem exceeds a PG-13 level. X-rated or obviously pornographic materials are prohibited and may be subject to post moderation, account suspension or being banned.

Copyright. Posts/comments are required to maintain and protect the copyrights of other members, other sites and any other copyright holder. Please see this link for guidelines regarding posting articles from other websites.

Sales/Spam. Promoting or actively selling goods or services in S4GRU threads, posts and comments is prohibited in all forms after June 12, 2012. Exceptions require Administrator approval in advance.

Post/Comment Moderation. S4GRU Administrators, Moderators and staff reserve the right to edit, remove or put on moderation queue any post, comment or profile of any member at any time.

Illegal, Unethical or Violative Content. It is not permissible to post content that helps to encourage or facilitate the breaking of, or circumvention of, laws, statutes, Terms & Conditions of U.S. domestic governments, companies or organizations. Some examples would include instruction how to break the law, evade law enforcement or how to bypass wireless companies network management controls.

 

Creating multiple accounts.  It is not allowed to create additional member accounts without prior permission from the Administrator.  Creating multiple accounts may lead to you being disciplinary action including being banned, depending on what is done with additional account and severity.

 

Problems at other 4GRU sites.  We will consider allowing members who have been banned from other 4GRU sites to use S4GRU, depending on severity.  Pre-approval is not required to create your S4GRU account, but you will be notified if it is decided your issues rise to the level that we will not allow a S4GRU account.  If you continue to cause problems or threaten other 4GRU sites after creating your S4GRU account, your S4GRU account could receive disciplinary actions up to being banned or account termination.

Sharing Sign In Credentials. It is not allowed to share your account sign-in credentials with other parties. Posting credentials in a public forum (sites like bugmenot.com, etc) is prohibited. Offenders found to be sharing or posting their accounts will be marked as spammers and their accounts terminated and banned.

Private Messages. All rules/guidelines pertaining to threads, posts and comments also apply to Private Messages to other members, unless specifically exempted by S4GRU.

 

Chat Room. All rules/guidelines pertaining to threads, posts and comments also apply to the S4GRU Chat Room (also known as The Lounge), unless specifically exempted by S4GRU.

 

Social Media sites. All rules/guidelines pertaining to threads, posts and comments at S4GRU.com also apply to S4GRU Social Media sites, like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, where not in conflict to these sites Terms and Conditions.

 

Speed Test Images. Posting examples of slow speed tests are not allowed.  We all know slow looks like. We already know there are parts of the Sprint network that really stinks.  Zero looks like zero, no matter how many times it is posted.  Violative posts will be removed.  Repeat offenders many be subject to further action by S4GRU Staff.

 

Sponsor Content. Content posted by S4GRU (including data and maps) in Sponsor and Premier Sponsor sections are not for distribution or to be posted outside of Sponsor and Premier Sponsor forums. Exceptions to this are only to be given by the S4GRU Administrator and permission must be received in writing. S4GRU is dependent on donations to keep the site active. Violating these rules may cause S4GRU to not be able to raise the funds necessary to keep online. When violaters are discovered, their S4GRU accounts will be terminated and no refunds given.

 

Donations. Donations to S4GRU are freely given by members to help support the significant costs of keeping S4GRU online and operating. S4GRU does not provide any guaranteed service or material goods in exchange for donations. Donations are not refundable, nor tax deductible. Anything that S4GRU provides to members after a donation, like access to maps or forums, is not a service and access is not guaranteed for any period of time. Donations are not required for membership, but S4GRU reserves the rights to limit memberships in the future for any reason.  S4GRU can reject and refund donations for any reason and deny Sponsorship status.

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Some minor changes have been made for readability/understandability over the past few weeks.  You should keep current with the posting guidelines and take a moment to read them again.  

 

Robert